So, according to the new Spark Book, exercising less in the first 2 weeks is the key to a "strong start." Huh?!

Quote:

On average, strong starters exercised for 30 minutes during the first two weeks; false starters for 60 minutes, suggesting that false starters burned themselves out.

So, if I currently walk 30-50 minutes twice a day, and then bike or hike on the weekends should I cut this way back to 30 minutes a day for the next 2 weeks and then spend my weekends sitting on the couch watching TV instead of being active?

If you enjoy longer exercise, by all means, stick with it. The study simply found that people who jump in too far too fast tend to give up.

You often see people here who sign up and day 1 commit to 1200 calories/day and 60 minutes of exercise 6 or 7 days a week. Commendable, yes, but also a recipe for frustration, burnout, and/or injury for many people.

Do what feels good. Take baby steps if necessary, but if you are enjoying it, "run with it." (sorry, couldn't help myself )

I think its absolutely TRUE. That's why I don't always go as FAR as I can. Remember...the turtle won the race!

BTW, I started out walking around my neighborhood walking the dog! lol! Now I run 5k's every other day. I constantly remind myself that it's NOT how much I can do in ONE DAY, but how many DAYS I can do it!

I suspect those results were for people who started a NEW exercise program at the same time as changing their diet, and found that was too ambitious. If you are already exercising the way you said and have been doing it for a while, I don't see it would be necessary to cut back. I was already exercising and didn't change that when I started calorie counting and it worked out fine.